Kalilina Black and the Year of the Snake
by Maraudin'likeaboss
Summary: Kalilina's back, everyone! Kalilina is going back to Hogwarts with Harry, and real crazy shit is going to go down. New DADA professor, petrified Muggle-borns, and . . . romance? Follow Kalilina and Harry in their 2nd year at Hogwarts! ON A HIATUS.
1. The Masons and the Weird Hedge

**Chapter 1 of Kalilina's second year! Woot! Woot! All Harry Potter characters go to J. K. Rowling and not me. c: Enjoy!**

* * *

Not for the first time, an argument broke out over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive. Mr. Vernon Dursley had woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud, hooting noise from his nephew and not- really niece's room.

"Third time this week!" he roared across the table. "If you can't control that owl, it'll have to go!"

Harry tried again, for the umpteenth time, to explain.

"She's bored," he said. "She's used to flying around outside. If I could just let her out at night -"

"Do I look stupid?" snarled Uncle Vernon, a bit of fried egg dangling from his mustache. "I know what'll happen if that owl's let out."

"Have a heart and let Harry have his owl fly around at night," Kalilina butt in. Uncle Vernon jerked his head toward her.

"Shut up, girl, this does not concern you," he growled, "Unless you want me to get started on your bloody cat."

Kalilina groaned and rolled her eyes. "Not this again . . . look, bitch. It's a cat. What the hell is it going to do? Grow wings and fly off somewhere?"

"It's a cat from your world, there's no telling what it can do," Uncle Vernon said, giving his wife, Petunia a dark look, which she returned.

Harry and Kalilina opened their mouths to argue some more, but Dudley, Petunia and Vernon's son, let out a loud belch.

"I want more bacon."

"There's more in the frying pan, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia, turning misty eyes on her massive son. "We must build you up while we've got the chance. . . . I don't the sound of that school food. . . ."

"Nonsense, Petunia, I never went hungry when _I _was at Smeltings," said Uncle Vernon heartily. "Dudley gets enough, don't you, son?"

Dudley, who was so large his bottom drooped over either side of the kitchen chair, grinned and turned to Harry.

"Pass the frying pan."

"You've forgotten the magic word," said Harry irritably. Kalilina groaned and face-palmed herself. Here we go again. Dudley gasped and fell out of his chair, shaking the whole kitchen; Mrs. Dursley gave a small scream and clapped her hands to her mouth; Mr. Dursley jumped to his feet, veins throbbing in his temples.

"I meant 'please'!" said Harry quickly. "I didn't -"

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU," thundered his uncle, spraying spit over the table, "ABOUT SAYING THE 'M' WORD IN OUR HOUSE?"

"But I -"

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!" roared Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his fist.

"NO ONE THREATENED YOUR FAT ASS CHILD," Kalilina bellowed. Uncle Vernon reached across the table and grabbed Kalilina by her collar.

"THIS IS NOT YOUR FIGHT, GIRL. STAY OUT OF IT," he screamed in her face. Kalilina stared at him with defiance roaring in her crystal blue eyes.

"Any fight that deals with Harry, also deals with me," she told him, punching him square in the face. He threw her back, making her fall back in her chair, which then knocked back; Kalilina fell to the ground with a sickening crunch coming from her head. Harry instantly went over to her, and checked her head.

"I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION OF YOUR ABNORMALITIES UNDER THIS ROOF!"

Harry glared at the purple-faced man. "All right. Just don't touch her again."

Uncle Vernon sat back down, staring down at the two children on the floor with hatred. He didn't show any remorse for what he just did Kalilina. He never did. Since the beginning of summer, Kalilina was always the target for Uncle Vernon's anger. She had the bruises to show it, too. All because she and Harry weren't normal. As a matter of fact, they were as not normal as it was possible to be.

Harry Potter and Kalilina Black were a witch and wizard, respectively - a wizard and witch fresh from their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And if the Dursleys were unhappy to have them back for the holidays - which they definitely were - it didn't match up to how Harry and Kalilina felt.

They missed Hogwarts terribly, and it was like a constant stomachache without it. They missed the castle, with its secret passageways and ghosts, their classes (Though not greasy git Snape, the Potions professor), the mail arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall, sleeping in their four-poster bed in the tower dormitories, visiting the game-keeper, Hagrid, in his cabin next to the Forbidden Forest in the grounds, and, especially, Quidditch, the most popular sport in the Wizarding world (six tall goal posts, four flying balls, and fourteen players on broomsticks).

All Harry and Kalilina's spell books; their wands, robes, cauldrons, and top-of-the-line Nimbus Two Thousand broomsticks had been locked in a cupboard under the stairs by Uncle Vernon the instant they had come home. What did the Dursleys care if Harry and Kalilina lost their places on the House Quidditch team because they hadn't practiced all summer? What was it to the Dursleys if Harry and Kalilina went back to school without any of their homework done? The Dursleys were what wizards called Muggles (not one single drop of magical blood in them.) and as far as they were concerned, having a magical being in the family was of deepest shame. Uncle Vernon had even padlocked Harry's owl, Hedwig, inside her cage, to stop her from carrying messages to anyone in the Wizarding world.

Harry didn't look anything like the rest of the family. Uncle Vernon was large and neck less, with an enormous black mustache; Aunt Petunia was horse-faced and bony; Dudley was blond, pink and porky. Harry, on the other hand, was small and skinny, with brilliant green eyes and jet-black hair that was always untidy. He wore round glasses, and on his forehead was a thin, lightning-shaped scar. Kalilina wasn't even related to any of them, so no wonder she looked like none of them. She was small and skinny, like Harry, but she was lankier than him. She had normally wavy jet-black hair, which she kept in a ponytail on top of her head. Her hair was that short. She had dark - but not too - dark blue eyes that turned even darker when she was angry. She had freckles that dotted across her nose and on to her cheeks, slightly. She, like Harry, also had a thin-lightning-shaped scar on her forehead, which she covered with her bangs most of the time.

It was this scar that made Harry and Kalilina so particularly unusual, even for a wizard and witch. This scar was the only hint of their mysterious past, of the reason they had been left on the Dursleys' doorstep eleven years before.

At the age of one year old, Harry and Kalilina had somehow survived a curse from the greatest Dark sorcerer of all time, Lord Voldemort, whose name most wizards and witches feared to speak. Harry's parents and Kalilina's mom had died in Voldemort's attack, but they had escaped with their lightning scars and somehow - nobody understood why - Voldemort's powers had been diminished the instant he had failed to kill the children.

So Harry and Kalilina had been brought up by Harry's dead mother's sister and her husband. They had spent ten years with the Dursleys, never understanding why they kept making odd things happen without meaning to, believing the Dursleys' story of Harry's parents and Kalilina's mother got in a car crash, resulting in their scars.

And then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had written to Harry and Kalilina and the whole story came out. They had taken up their place at wizard school, where they and their scar were famous . . . but now the school year was over, and they were back with the Dursleys for the summer, back to being treated like hobos who lived on the street.

The Dursleys hadn't even remembered that today happened to be Harry's twelfth birthday, per usual. Kalilina had remembered, of course, like usual. He didn't expect them to get him anything, but to ignore it completely was taking it to a whole different level. Kalilina promised that when they went to Diagon Alley, she would use money from her account to get him something - and she didn't take no for answer.

At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said, "Now, as well as know, today is a very important day."

Harry looked up, not wanting to believe it. Kalilina looked at him excitedly, smacking his arm repeatedly.

"This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career," said Uncle Vernon

Harry went to his toast. Kalilina gave him a sympathetic smile. _Of course, _Harry thought bitterly. _Uncle Vernon was talking about his stupid dinner party. _He'd been talking non-stop about it for two weeks. Some rich builder and his wife were coming to dinner and Uncle Vernon was hoping to get a huge order from him (Uncle Vernon's company made drills.)

"I think we should run through the schedule one more time," said Uncle Vernon. "We should be all in position at eight o' clock. Petunia you will be -?"

"In the lounge," Aunt Petunia finished for him, "waiting to welcome them graciously to our home."

"Good, good. And Dudley?"

"I'll be waiting to open the door." Dudley put on a completely fake smile. "May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

"They'll _love _him!" cried Aunt Petunia rapturously.

_'The Mason won't be buying anything if _that's _what Dudley's going to say'_ snickered Kalilina.

'_They wouldn't even step into the house. They'd run just at the sight of Dudley' _sniggered Harry. They tried to keep straight faces so the Dursleys wouldn't get suspicious.

"Excellent, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon. Then he rounded on Harry and Kalilina. "And _you two_?"

"We'll be in our bedroom, making no noise and pretending we aren't here," Harry said, blandly.

"Exactly," Uncle Vernon said nastily. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight-fifteen -"

"I'll announce dinner," said Aunt Petunia.

"And, Dudley, you'll say -"

"May I take you through the dining room, Mrs. Mason?" said Dudley, offering his fat arm to the air.

"My perfect little gentleman!" sniffed Aunt Petunia.

"And _you two_?" said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry and Kalilina.

"We'll be in our room blah blah not making any noise blah blah and pretending not to be here blah blah," sighed Kalilina.

"Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia any ideas?"

"Vernon tells me you're a _wonderful _golfer, Mr. Mason. . . . _Do _tell me where you bought your dress, Mrs. Mason. . . ."

"Perfect . . . Dudley?"

"How about - 'we had to write an essay about our hero at school Mr. Mason, and _I _wrote about _you_."

This was too much. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, Harry ducked under the table to laughed, while Kalilina just stood there, silently laughing, and holding onto her side.

"And you two?"

Harry and Kalilina sighed, rolled their eyes and groaned out, together, "We'll be in our room, making no noise and pretending we aren't there."

"Too right, you two will," said Uncle Vernon forcefully. "The Masons do not know about you and it will stay that way. When dinner's over, you take Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee, Petunia, and I'll bring the subject around to drills. With any luck, I'll have the deal signed and sealed before the news at ten. We'll be shopping for a vacation home in Majorca this time tomorrow."

Kalilina scoffed. Even if Uncle Vernon did manage to make the deal - which she knew he probably wouldn't - the way she and Harry were treated here, wasn't going to change there.

"Right - I'm off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And _you two_," he snarled at Harry and Kalilina. "You stay out of your aunt's way while she's cleaning."

Harry and Kalilina left through the back door. It was a brilliant, sunny day. They crossed the lawn, slumped down on the garden bench, and Harry sang under his breath,

"Happy birthday to me . . . happy birthday to me . . ."

No cards, no parents ("Yet," Kalilina reminded him, "yet.") and he would be spending the evening pretending not to exist. The only thing that made this day worth while is because he had Kalilina with him. They gazed miserably into the hedge. They had never felt lonelier. Well, they had each other of course, but they've had each other for twelve years now. More than anything else at Hogwarts, more even than playing Quidditch, Harry and Kalilina missed their best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They, however, didn't seem to be missing the pair at all. Neither of them had written to Harry and Kalilina all summer, even though Ron said he was going to ask them to come and stay.

Countless times, Harry had been on the point of unlocking Hedwig's cage by magic and sending her to Ron and Hermione with a letter, but it wasn't worth the risk. Underage wizards weren't allowed to use magic outside of school. However, the Dursleys did not know this and Harry and Kalilina weren't planning on telling them. For the first couple of weeks, it was hilarious muttering nonsense under their breaths and watching Dudley speed out the room as fast he could. But the long silence from Ron and Hermione had made them feel so cut off from the magical world and even taunting Dudley had lost its appeal - and now Ron and Hermione had forgotten Harry's birthday.

What wouldn't they give now for a message from Hogwarts? From any witch or wizard? Hell, they'd even be almost glad to get a glimpse of their arch nemesis, Draco Malfoy, just to make sure everything hadn't been a dream . . .

Not that their whole year at Hogwarts had been fun. At the very end of last term, Harry and Kalilina had come face-to-face with none other than Lord Voldemort himself. Voldemort might be a ruin of his former self, but he was still terrifying, still cunning, still determined to gain power. Harry and Kalilina had slipped through Voldemort's clutches for a second time, but it had been a narrow escape, and even now, weeks later, Harry and Kalilina kept waking up in the middle of the night, in a cold sweat, wondering where Voldemort was now, remembering livid face, his mad wide eyes.

Kalilina multiple times, as she found she was staring at the hedge - _and it was staring right back_. Two enormous green eyes had appeared among the leaves. Kalilina stood up and edged closer to the hedge. Harry jumped up, as well, just as a jeering voice floated across the yard

"I know what day it is," sang Dudley, waddling toward them.

The huge eyes blinked and vanished.

"What?" said Harry, not removing his eyes from the hedge.

"I know what day it is," he repeated, standing in front of them.

"Oh, so you've finally completed kindergarten, have you," snickered Kalilina. "Or have you just now learned the days of the week? Are you moving on to your ABCs next?"

"Today's your _birthday_, dear cousin," Dudley sneered at Harry. "How come you haven't got any cards? Haven't you any friends at the freak school of yours?"

"Better not let your mum hear you talking about our school, you might catch it," smirked Harry.

Dudley pulled up his trousers, which were slipping down his humungous bottom.

"Why're staring at the edge?" he said suspiciously.

"Oh, Kalilina and I are trying to decide which spell to use on the hedge. We want to set it on fire," said Harry.

Dudley stumbled backward at once, a look of panic on his fat face.

"You c-can't - Dad told you you're not to do magic - he said he'll chuck you out of the house - and you haven't go anywhere else to go - you haven't got any _friends _to take you two -"

"_Jiggery pokery!_" Harry said fiercely.

"_Alakazam!_"

"_Hocus pocus _-"

"_Squiggly wah wah_ –"

"MUUUUUM!" howled Dudley, tripping over his feet as he dashed back to the house. "MUUUM! They're doing you know what again!"

Harry and Kalilina paid dearly for their moment of fun. As neither Dudley nor the hedge was damaged, Aunt Petunia knew they didn't do any magic, but she till aimed a hard blow at their heads; Kalilina yelled '_Child abuse!_' as she ducked. Then she gave them work to do, with the promise they'd never eat again until they'd finished.

While Dudley lolled around watching and ice cream, Harry and Kalilina cleaned the windows, washed the car, mowed the lawn, trimmed the flower beds, pruned and watered the roses, and re-painted the garden bench. The sun blazed overhead, burning the back of their necks. They knew they shouldn't have risen to Dudley's bait, but Dudley had said the very thing they had been thinking themselves . . . maybe they _didn't _have any friends at Hogwarts.

_Wish they could see the famous duo now_, they thought savagely as they spread manure on the flower beds, their backs aching, sweating running down their faces.

It was half past eleven in the evening when at last, exhausted; they heard Aunt Petunia calling them in.

"Get in here! And walk on the newspaper!"

They moved gladly into the shade of the gleaming kitchen. On top of the fridge stood tonight's pudding: a huge mound of whipped cream and sugared violets. A loin of roast pork was sizzling in the oven.

"Eat quickly! The Masons will be here soon!" snapped Aunt Petunia, pointing to four slices of bread and a lump of cheese on the kitchen table. She was already wearing a salmon-pink cocktail dress.

Harry and Kalilina washed their hands and bolted down their pitiful dinner. Then the moment they had finished, Aunt Petunia whisked away their plates. "Upstairs! Hurry!"

As they passed the door to the living room, they caught a glimpse of Uncle Vernon and Dudley in bow ties and dinner jackets had only just reached the upstairs landing when the doorbell rang and Uncle Vernon's furious face appeared at the foot of the stairs.

"Remember - one sound -"

"Oh, shut the fuck up and go be the kiss ass you are," snapped Kalilina, pulling Harry top their room. Harry shut the door quietly behind them and was about to collapse on his bed.

That wouldn't have been a problem . . .

If some one wasn't already sitting on it.

* * *

**Year 2, guise! I'm really excited for this year. C: Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter!**

**- Maraudin'likeaboss. Xx**


	2. Meeting Dobby

**All Harry Potter characters do not belong to me, but to J. K. Rowling. Enjoy Chapter Two! ~**

* * *

Harry and Kalilina stared, open-mouthed, at what was sitting on Harry's bed. The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. This is the thing that mustn't have been watching them out of the garden hedge that morning.

As they all stared at each other, Dudley's voice was heard from the hall.

"May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of it long, thin nose touched the carpet. Harry and Kalilina noticed it was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with rips for arm - and leg-holes.

"Um - hi?" said Kalilina, confused.

"Err - hello," said Harry nervously.

"Harry Potter! Kalilina Black!" said the creature in a high-pitched voice the two children knew would carry down the stairs. "So long Dobby wanted to meet you sir, miss . . . Such an honor it is. . . ."

"Th-thank you," said Harry, edging along the wall and sinking into his desk chair, next to Hedwig, who was asleep in her cage. Kalilina just plopped on her own bed and gave the creature a kind - but uneasy - smile.

"Who are you?" Harry blurted out.

"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," said the creature.

"Oh - that's nice," said Kalilina. "But I don't think it's a particularly good time for us to have a house-elf right now."

Aunt Petunia's high, obviously false laugh sounded from the living room. The elf hung his head.

"Not that we aren't pleased to meet you," said Harry quickly, "but, err, is there any particular reason you're here?"

"Oh, yes, sir," said Dobby earnestly. "Dobby has come to tell you, sir, miss . . . it is difficult to explain . . . Dobby doesn't know where to start. . . ."

"Well why don't you sit down and think about it for a bit," said Kalilina, politely, pointing to Harry's bed. And to both Harry and Kalilina's horror, the elf burst to tears - very noisy and profuse tears.

"_S-sit down!_" he wailed. "_Never . . . never ever . . ._"

Harry and Kalilina could've sworn the voices downstairs faltered.

"Oh, Jesus, I'm sorry," whispered Kalilina, frantically, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything -"

"Offend Dobby!" choked the elf. "Dobby has _never _been asked to sit down by a witch - like an _equal _-"

Kalilina was saying comforting words while Harry, trying to say "Shhh!" and sound comforting at the same time, ushered Dobby back onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly doll. At last he managed to control himself, and sat with his great eyes fixed on Harry and Kalilina in an expression of watery adoration.

"You can't have met many decent wizards," Harry chuckled lamely.

Dobby shook his head. Then, without, warning, he leapt up and starting his head furiously on the window, shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"What the - bloody fuck, will you stop?" Kalilina hissed, while Harry pulled the elf back onto the bed - Hedwig had woken up with a quite loud screech and was banging her wings wildly against her cage.

"Dobby had to punish himself, miss," said the elf, whom had gone slightly cross eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, miss. . . ."

"Your family?"

"The wizard family Dobby serves, misses. . . . Dobby is a house-elf - bound to serve one house and one family forever. . . ."

"Do they know you're here?" asked Harry curiously.

Dobby shuddered.

"Oh, no, sir, no . . . Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you two, sir, miss. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they knew -"

"Oh, that's horrible! Won't they notice if you shut your ears in the oven door?"

"Dobby doubts it, miss. Dobby always has to punish himself for something, miss. They lets Dobby gets on with it, miss. Sometimes they remind me to do extra punishments. . . ."

"But why don't you leave? Escape?"

"A house-elf must be set free, sir. And the family will never set Dobby free . . . Dobby will serve the family until he dies, sir. . . ."

Harry and Kalilina stared.

"And we thought the Dursleys were horrible," said Harry. "This makes the Dursleys seem almost human. Can't anyone help you?"

"Can't we?" The two children said together.

Almost at once, they wished they hadn't said anything. Dobby dissolved again into wails of gratitude.

"Please, for the love of mercy," Harry whispered frantically, "please be quiet. If the Dursleys hear anything, if they know you're here -"

"Harry Potter and Kalilina Black ask if they can help Dobby . . . Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, miss, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew. . . ."

Kalilina popped her imaginary collar while Harry just went red in the face and said, "Whatever you've heard about _my _greatness is a load of rubbish. I'm not even top of my year at Hogwarts; that's Hermione, she -"

When he said that, both he and Kalilina went silent. It hurt to think about Hermione.

"Yeah, I'm not all that great, either," added Kalilina. "I mean yeah, I'm pretty cool, but I'm not all that."

"Harry Potter and Kalilina Black are humble and modest," said Dobby, reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow. "Harry Potter and Kalilina Black speaks not of their triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named -"

"You mean Voldemort?" said Harry.

Dobby clapped his hands over his bat-like ears and moaned, "Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!"

"Sorry," said Harry quickly. "I know lots of people don't like it. Our friend Ron -"

It was even painful talking about Ron, as well.

Dobby leaned toward Harry and Kalilina, his eyes wide as headlights.

"Dobby heard tell;" he said hoarsely, "that Harry Potter and Kalilina Black met the Dark Lord for a second time, just weeks ago . . . that Harry Potter and Kalilina Black escaped _yet again_."

Harry and Kalilina nodded and Dobby's eyes suddenly shined with tears.

"Ah, sir, miss," he gasped, dabbling his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. "Harry Potter and Kalilina Black are so valiant and brave! They have braved so many dangers already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter and Kalilina Black, to warn them, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later. . . . _Harry Potter and Kalilina Black must not go back to Hogwarts_."

There was a silence broken only by the chunk of knives and forks from downstairs and the distant rumble of Uncle Vernon's voice.

"Excuse me?" Kalilina was first to speak. "You don't understand, we have to go back to Hogwarts. It's the only place where we belong. We don't belong here with the Dursleys. Hogwarts is our home."

"No, no, no," squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped. "Harry Potter and Kalilina Black must stay where they're safe. They're too great, too good, to lose. If Harry Potter and Kalilina Black go back to Hogwarts, they will be in mortal danger."

"What are you talking about?" said Harry in surprise.

"There is a plot, Harry Potter and Kalilina Black. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has known for months, sir, miss. Harry Potter and Kalilina must not put themselves in peril. They are too important, sir, miss!"

"What terrible things?" said Kalilina at once. "Who in the hell is plotting them?"

Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head frantically against the wall.

"All right!" cried Harry, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't tell us, we understand. But why are you warning us?" A sudden, unpleasant thought hit him. "Wait a second, this doesn't have anything to do with Vol- sorry - with You- Know- Who, has it? You could just shake or nod," he added hastily as Dobby's head tilted worryingly close to the wall again.

Slowly, Dobby shook his head.

"Not - not _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_, sir -"

But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Harry and Kalilina a hint. They, however, were lost.

"Good Jesus, you aren't telling us he's got a brother, are you?" said Kalilina.

Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever.

"Well, there's no one else I can think of who would have a chance of making horrible things happen at Hogwarts," said Harry. "I mean, there's Dumbledore, for one - you know who Dumbledore is, don't you?"

Dobby bowed his head.

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. Dobby knows it, sir. Dobby has heard Dumbledore's powers rival those He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his strength. But, sir, miss -" Dobby's voice dropped to an urgent whisper - "there are powers Dumbledore doesn't . . . power no decent wizard . . ."

And before Harry or Kalilina could stop him, Dobby bounded off the bed, seized Harry's desk lamp, and started beating himself around the head with earsplitting yelps.

A sudden silence fell downstairs. Two seconds later Harry and Kalilina, hearts thudding madly, heard Uncle Vernon coming into the hall, calling, "Dudley must have left his television on again, the little tyke!"

"In you go!" whispered Kalilina, stuffing Dobby in the closet, shutting the door and literally flinging herself on her bed. Harry had just flung himself on the bed when the door handle turned.

"What - the - _devil _- are - you - doing?" said Uncle Vernon through gritted teeth, his face terribly close to Harry and Kalilina's. "You've just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke. . . . One more sound and you'll wish you two were never born!"

He stomped flat-footed from the room.

Shaking, Harry let Dobby out of the closet.

"See what it's like here?" he said. "See why we've got to go back to Hogwarts? It's the only place where we've got friends - well, we _think _we've got friends."

"Friends who don't even _write _to Harry Potter and Kalilina Black?" said Dobby slyly.

"Hold the fuck up," said Kalilina. "How do _you _know that Ron and Hermione haven't been writing to us?"

Dobby shuffled his feet.

"Harry Potter and Kalilina Black mustn't be mad at Dobby. Dobby did it for the best -"

"_You've been stopping our letters!_"

"Dobby has them here, sir, miss," said the elf. Stepping nimbly out of the two obviously angered children, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. They could make out Hermione's neat writing, Ron's untidy scrawl, and even a scribble that looked as though it was from the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid.

Dobby blinked anxiously at the pair.

"Harry Potter and Kalilina mustn't be angry. . . . Dobby hoped . . . if Harry Potter and Kalilina Black thought their friends had forgotten them . . . Harry Potter and Kalilina Black might not want to go back to school, sir, miss. . . ."

But Harry and Kalilina weren't listening. They were only focused on getting their letters from the elf.

"You will have them, sir, miss, if you two give Dobby your word that you will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, miss, this is a danger you must not face! SAY YOU WON'T GO BACK!"

"Just give us our letters, Dobby," said Kalilina, trying not to jump the elf and take the letters. "And no one gets hurt."

"Then Kalilina Black and Harry Potter leave Dobby no choice," said the elf sadly.

Before anything else happened, Dobby darted to the bedroom door pulled it open, and sprinted downstairs. Cursing and panicking, Harry and Kalilina sprung after him, trying to be as quiet as possible. Harry jumped the last six steps, landing cat-like on the hall carpet. Kalilina, however, slid down the banister and landed the same place as Harry. From the dining room they heard Uncle Vernon saying, ". . . tell Petunia that very funny story about those American plumbers, Mr. Mason. She's been dying to hear . . ."

Kalilina snorted quietly before they ran up the hall into the kitchen, and felt their stomachs vanish.

Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugared violets, was floating up near the ceiling. On top of a cupboard in the corner crouched Dobby.

"No," croaked Harry. "Please . . . they'll kill us. . . ."

"Dobby, stop, no," whispered Kalilina urgently. "Please, Dobby. . . ."

"Harry Potter and Kalilina Black must say they aren't going back to school -"

"Dobby . . . please . . ."

"Say it, sir, miss -"

"We won't - We _can't _-"

Dobby gave them a tragic look.

"Then Dobby must do it, sir, miss, for Harry Potter and Kalilina Black's own good."

The pudding fell to the floor with a heart-stopping crash. Cream splattered the windows and walls as the dish shattered. With a crack like a whip, Dobby vanished.

There were screams for the dining room and Uncle Vernon burst into the kitchen to find Harry, rigid with shock, and Kalilina, staring at him like a deer in headlights, covered head to toe in Aunt Petunia's pudding.

At first, it looked as though Uncle Vernon would manage to gloss the whole thing over. ("Just our nephew and . . . niece - very disturbed - meeting strangers upset them, so we kept them upstairs. . . .") He shooed the shocked Masons back into the living room, promised Harry and Kalilina he would flay them within barely an inch of life when the Masons had left, and handed them mops. Aunt Petunia dug some ice cream out of the freezer and Harry and Kalilina, still shaken up, started cleaning the kitchen.

Uncle Vernon might have been able to make his deal - that is, until an owl came screeching in.

Aunt Petunia was just passing around a box of after-dinner mints when a huge barn owl swooped through the dining room window, dropped a two letters on Mrs. Mason's head, and swooped out again. Mrs. Mason screamed like a banshee and ran from the house screaming about lunatics. Mr. Mason stayed just long enough to tell the Dursleys that his wife with deathly afraid of birds of all shapes and sizes, and to ask if this was their sick idea of a joke.

Uncle Vernon advanced on the pair in the kitchen, with a furious glint in his eyes. It was almost murderous - scratch that. It _was _murderous.

"Read it!" he hissed dangerously, throwing the letters at them. "Go on - read it!"

It wasn't a happy letter. The letters read the same:

Dear Mr. Potter/ Ms. Black,

We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine. As you know, underage wizards/witches are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spell work on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, paragraph C).

We would also like you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statue of Secrecy.

Enjoy your holidays!

Yours sincerely,

Malfada Hopkirk

IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE

_Ministry of Magic_

Harry and Kalilina looked at each warily before looking at Uncle Vernon.

"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside school," said Uncle Vernon, a mad glint swimming in his eyes. "Forgot to mention it. . . . Slipped out of your minds, I daresay. . . ."

He was bearing on them like a great bulldog, all his teeth bared. "Well, I've got news for you two. . . . I'm locking you up. . . . You're never going back to that school . . . never . . . and if you try and magic yourself out - they'll expel you!"

And laughing like a psychopath, he dragged Harry and Kalilina back upstairs.

Uncle Vernon was bad as his word. The following morning, he paid a man to fit bars on Harry and Kalilina's window. He himself fitted a cat-flap in the bedroom door, so that small amounts of food could be pushed inside three times a day. They let the pair out to use the bathroom in the morning and evening. Otherwise, they were locked in the bedroom around the clock.

Three days later, the Dursleys were showing no signs of letting up, and Harry and Kalilina couldn't see a way out of the situation. They laid on their beds watching the sun sink behind the bars on the window and wondering miserably what was going to happen to them.

What good was it magicking themselves away from this horrid place if Hogwarts would expel them? Yet life at Privet Drive had reached an all time low. Now that the Dursleys knew they weren't going to wake up as fruit bats, their only weapon against the Dursleys were gone. Dobby might have saved them from horrible happening at Hogwarts, but the way things were going already, they'd probably starve to death anyways.

The cat-flap rattled and Aunt Petunia's hand appeared, pushing two bowls of canned soup into the room. Kalilina wanted so badly to try to pull Aunt Petunia through the flap, but she knew Uncle Vernon would probably punish her for it. That's another thing. The beatings from Uncle Vernon were becoming a lot more frequent. After Uncle Vernon locked her back in the room, she would sob while Harry held her. They took the bowls from Aunt Petunia and drank most of it. It was horrible, nasty, and putrid. But it was something at least. Harry went over to Hedwig's cage and topped the soggy vegetables at the bottom of the bowl into her empty food tray. She ruffled her feathers and gave him a look of disgust.

"It's no good turning your beak up at it - that's all we got," said Harry grimly. Kalilina opened her cat carrier that held her cat, Starshine, and waited for the cat to come out. Starshine did and stretched before lying in her owner's lap.

"Hey, Star," cooed Kalilina, "Mama's got some food for you. I know it's not what you like but it's all I get."

Starshine crawled off of Kalilina and went over to the bowl. Starshine smelled the bowl and gave Kalilina a 'Are you fucking kidding right now?' look. Starshine through her head up and stalked back into her carrier.

"Well, Miss Prissy, I guess you'll starve," Kalilina huffed, shutting Starshine's cage and locking it. They sat the empty bowls on the floor next to the cat-flap and lay down in their own separate beds, somehow ten times hungrier than before the soup.

Supposing they had double over in another four weeks, what would happen if they didn't turn up at Hogwarts? Would someone be sent to come collect their decomposing bodies? Would they be able to force - cough - '_convince_' the Dursleys to let them go?

The room grew dark. Exhausted, stomach rumbling, minds spinning over the same unanswerable questions, they both fell into an uneasy sleep.

They both dreamed the same thing. They were in a zoo, with a card reading _Underage wizards _attached to their cage. People goggled through the bars at them as they lay, barely alive, on a bed of straw. Dobby's face appeared in the crowd and when they begged for help, Dobby said, "Harry Potter and Kalilina Black are safe here!" and vanished. The Dursleys appeared and Uncle Vernon reached in to try to get to the pair.

"Stop it," Harry muttered as the rattling pounded in his throbbing head. "Leave us alone . . . cut it out . . . I'm sleeping, you twat."

"Oi, Uncle Vernon," Kalilina mumbled. "I'm going to kill you if you don't leave us alone! Hey! That's my food! Gimme! Harry, geroff, he took my food! That _bastard_..."

Kalilina rolled over and her snores were heard again. Harry, however, opened his eyes. Moonlight was shining through the bars on the window. And someone _was _goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, and long-nosed someone.

Ron Weasley was outside their bedroom window.

* * *

**Second chapter; finite! I really can't wait until they get to Hogwarts, man. -Sigh- That's 2-3 chapters away. Anyway~ hoped you enjoyed the second chapter!**


	3. Arriving at the Burrow

"_Ron!_" breathed Harry. "Kali, get up, Ron's here!"

"Ha-ha, nice try, Potter," murmured Kalilina.

"Hiya, Kali," Ron said. Kalilina rolled off her bed and dashed to the window. Sure enough, Ron Weasley was grinning at her from outside the bars.

"Ron? Ron! It's actually you!" gasped Kalilina. "But how - what the -?"

Ron was leaning out of the back of an old turquoise car, and it was parked _in midair_. Grinning at Harry and Kalilina from the front seats, were Fred and George, Ron's elder - and troublesome - twin brothers.

"Hiya," they said in unison.

"Oh!" squealed Kalilina, quietly. "I just want to hug you all! We haven't had contact with anyone all summer!"

"Yeah, about that. What been going on?" said Ron. "Why haven't you been answering my letters? I've asked you two to stay exactly twelve times, and then Dad came home and said that you two got an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles -"

"It wasn't us, though - and how did he know?"

"He works for the Ministry," said Ron. "You _know _we're not supposed to do spells outside school -"

"Um, Hellloooo," said Kalilina, gesturing to the floating car.

"Oh, this doesn't count," said Ron. "We're only borrowing this. It's Dad's, _we _didn't enchant it. But doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with -"

"How many times do we have to tell you, we didn't do it - but it'll take too long to explain now - look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked us up and won't let us come back, and obviously we can't magic ourselves out, because the Ministry'll think that's the second spell we've done in three days, so -"

"Stop rambling," said Ron. "We've come to take you two home with us."

"I don't know if you know this but - we can't magic ourselves out, remember -"

"And I don't know if _you _know this, but," said Ron, jerking his head toward the front seat and grinning. "I've got Fred and George. They don't _need _magic to get you two out."

"Tie that around the bars," said Fred, throwing the end of the rope to Harry.

"If the Dursleys wake up, you'll be invited to our funeral," muttered Kalilina as Harry tied the rope tightly around a bar and Fred revved up the car.

"Oh, relax," said Fred, "and stand back."

Kalilina and Harry moved way back. There's no telling what could happen. The car revved louder and louder and suddenly, with a crunching noise, the bars were pulled clean out of the window as Fred drove straight up in the air. Kalilina and Harry ran back to the window to see the bars dangling a few feet from the ground. Panting, Ron hoisted them up into the car. Fortunately, there was no sound from the Dursleys' bedroom.

When the bars were safely in the backseat with Ron, Fred reversed as close as possible to the bedroom window.

"Hop on in," Ron said.

"Um, well - our Hogwarts stuff is kind of - uh -"

"Where is it?"

"Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and we can't get out of the room -"

"No problem," said George from the passenger seat. "Out of the way, you two."

Fred and George climbed catlike through the window into Harry and Kalilina's room. George took an ordinary hairpin from his pocket and started to pick the lock.

"A lot of wizards think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick," said Fred. "But we feel they're skills worth learning, even if they are a bit slow."

There was a small click and the door opened.

"So - we'll get your trunks - you grab anything you need from your room and hand it out to Ron," whispered George.

"Watch out for the bottom stair - it creaks," Harry whispered back as the twins disappeared onto the dark landing. With that, Harry and Kalilina dashed around the room, trying to grab things they needed and handing them to Ron. Then they went to help Fred and George heave their trunks up the stairs. Uncle Vernon coughed from his room.

At last, panting, they reached the landing, and then carried the trunks through the open window.

"I don't think my trunk will fit back here with Harry's," said Kalilina.

"Don't worry, I think there's enough space in the trunk," said Ron. Fred climbed back in the car to pull with Ron, and Harry and George pushed from the bedroom side. Inch by inch, the trunk slid through the window.

Uncle Vernon coughed again.

"A bit more," panted Fred, who was pulling from inside the car. "One good push -"

Harry and George threw their shoulders against the trunk and it slid out of the window into the back seat of the car.

"Now let's get your trunk in, Kalilina," George whispered. Kalilina grabbed it, preparing to put it in the trunk. George and Harry held out their arms, expectantly.

"Um, excuse me?" said Kalilina. "You must've forgotten who I am, boys. I can do this all by my pretty little self."

"Oh Merlin, I've Kalilina missed so much," muttered Ron. "And don't worry, Kali, the trunk is magicked so it will fit a hoard of stuff in there."

Kalilina nodded and heaved the trunk into the back of the car. Once she threw it in and slammed the trunk door closed, she dusted imaginary dust off her shoulders and smirked at the boys.

"And that's how a woman does it," she whispered. Harry got in with George and Kalilina was about to hop in as well when a screech and a loud meow let them know they were missing something.

"THAT RUDDY OWL!"

"Crap! - Hedwig! - Starshine!"

"I'll get 'em, Harry, don't worry your head," Kalilina hopped back into the room and collected the two animals. She had just passed them to Ron when Kalilina and Harry's bedroom door burst open.

For a split second, Uncle Vernon stood framed in the doorway; then he let out a bellow like an angry bull and dived at Kalilina, grabbing her by the leg.

Ron, Fred, George and Harry seized Kalilina's upper half and pulled as hard they could.

"Petunia!" roared Uncle Vernon. "They're getting away! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!"

But the Weasleys and Harry gave a gigantic tug and Kalilina's leg was ripped free from Uncle Vernon's killer grasp - Kalilina was safe in the car - she'd slammed the door shut -

"Put your foot down, Fred!" yelled Ron and the car suddenly shot towards the moon.

They were free - Kalilina and Harry were finally free from the wretched Dursleys. Kalilina rolled her window down and stuck her head out the window, breathing in the air. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were all hanging, dumbstruck, out of their bedroom window.

"ADIOS BITCHES!" Kalilina shouted.

"SEE YOU NEXT YEAR - MAYBE," Harry added.

The Weasleys roared with laughter and Kalilina and Harry high-fived each other and settled back into the seat, grinning the widest they ever had.

"Let Hedwig out," Harry told Ron. "She can fly behind us. She hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings for ages."

"Oh, that reminds me, open Starshine's cage, I want to hold her," added Kalilina.

George handed the hairpin to Ron and, moments later, Hedwig soared joyfully out of the window to glide alongside them like a ghost. Ron then opened Starshine's cage and Starshine bolted out and ran across Ron and Harry's laps and snuggled on Kalilina's. Kalilina smiled and rubbed the black cat's belly, earning herself soft purrs.

"So what's the story, guys?" Ron said impatiently. "What's been happening?"

Kalilina and Harry took turn telling them all about Dobby, the warning he'd given them and the fiasco of the violet pudding. There was a long, shocked pause, when they finished.

"Very fishy," Fred said finally.

"Definitely dodgy," agreed George. "So he wouldn't even tell you who is supposed to plotting all this crap?"

"I'm pretty sure he couldn't tell us," said Kalilina. "Every time he got close to letting something slip, he banged his head against the wall."

Fred and George looked at each other.

"What, you think he was lying to us or something?" said Harry.

"Well," said Fred, "put it this way - house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they usually can't use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's ideas of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school who holds a grudge against you two?"

"Yes," said Kalilina, Harry and Ron together, instantly.

"Well, I've got a handful, actually," said Kalilina. "But the most prominent one is Draco Malfoy. He hates us."

"Draco Malfoy?" said George, turning around. "Not Lucius Malfoy's son."

"Must be, it's not very common, is it?" said Harry. "Why?"

"I've heard Dad talking about him," said George. "He was a big supporter of You - Know - Who."

"And when You-Know-Who disappeared," said Fred, craning around to look at Kalilina and Harry, "Lucius Malfoy came back saying he'd never want any of it. Load of dung - Dad reckons he was right in You-Know-Who's inner circle."

Things had been spread about the Malfoy before and no one was really surprised in the slightest. Malfoy made Dudley Dursley look like a kind, thoughtful, and sensitive boy.

"I don't know whether the Malfoys own a house-elf. . . ." said Harry.

Kalilina snorted. "With Malfoy flaunting his money around and such. I wouldn't be surprised if he did have Dobby," she said.

"Well, whoever, owns him will be an old Wizarding family, and they'll be rich," said Fred.

"Yeah, Mum's always wishing we had a house-elf to do the ironing," said George. "But all we've got is a lousy old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the garden... House-elves come with big old manors and castles and places like that; you wouldn't catch one in our house. . . ."

It was silent. Judging by the fact that Draco Malfoy usually had the best of everything, his family was rolling in wizard gold; it wasn't hard to see Malfoy strutting around a large manor house. Sending the family servant to stop Kalilina and Harry from going back to Hogwarts also sounded exactly like the thing Malfoy would do. Had they really _actually _taken Dobby seriously?

"I'm glad we came to get you two, anyway," said Ron. "I was getting really worried when you didn't answer any of my letters. I thought it was Errol's fault at first -"

"Who's Errol?"

"Our owl. He's ancient. It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed on a delivery. So then I tried to borrow Hermes -"

"_Who_?"

"Oh, bloody hell, Harry, shut up and let the boy speak!" hissed Kalilina. Harry flicked her head.

"Hermes is the owl Mum and Dad bought Percy when he was made perfect," said Fred from the front.

"But Percy wouldn't lend him to me," said Ron. "Said he needed him."

"Percy's been acting very oddly this summer," said George, frowning. "And he _has _been sending a lot of letters and spending a lot of time in his room. . . . I mean, there are only so many times you can polish a prefect badge. . . . You're driving too far west, Fred," he added, pointing at a compass on the dashboard. Fred twiddled the steering wheel.

"So, I'm guessing neither of your parents know you've gotten the car," Kalilina said, for conformation.

"Err, no," said Ron, "he had to work tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to get it back in the garage without noticing we flew it."

"What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, anyway?"

"He works in the most boring department," said Ron. "The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."

"The _what now_?"

"It's all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle-made, you know, in case they end up back in a Muggle shop or house. Like, last year, some old witch died and her tea set was sold to an antiques shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home, and tried to serve tea to her friends in it. It was a nightmare - Dad was working overtime for weeks."

"What happened?"

"_Harry_ . . ."

"Kali, shut _up_! I'm only being curious,"

"Well curiosity killed the cat, Harry, and you don't shut your trap, you're going to be the cat!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down now," said Ron, raising his hands in a defensive tone. "I don't care that Harry's asking a lot of questions. It's just bloody great to hear you two again."  
Harry gave Kalilina and smirk and she took his glasses from him.

"Oh, look, I'm Harry Potter, I'm the coolest cool in the school. Seriously, like everyone loves me. Even though I've defeated like one dark lord, I'm so big-headed and think I'm like the bloody Boy-Who- Lived or something!" Kalilina imitated Harry.

Harry put on a voice two octaves higher than his normal voice, "I'm Kalilina Black and I think I'm like the absolutely baddest of the school. I'm so arrogant and big-headed and think that everyone is supposed to be scared of me. I take credit from Harry Potter and now everyone thinks he and I both defeated Lord Moldy. Wankers!"

Everyone in the car erupted in laughter.

"Oh, that was a good laugh," said Ron, wiping a tear that was threatening to fall from his eye.

"Yeah, but, Harry, I think I'll be keeping these glasses, I think they suit me," said Kalilina, posing. Giggles came from around the car again.

"That's the main road," said George peering down through the windshield. "We'll be there in ten minutes. . . . Just as well, it's getting late. . . ."

A faint pinkish glow was visible along the horizon to the east and Kalilina let out a yawn.

Fred brought the car lower, and Kalilina and Harry saw a dark patchwork of fields and clumps of trees.

"We're a little way outside the village," said George. "Ottery St. Catchpole."

Lower and lower went the flying car. The edge of a brilliant red sun was now gleaming through the trees.

"Touchdown!" said Fred as, with a slight bump, they hit the ground. They handed next to a tumbledown garage in a small yard and Kalilina and Harry looked out for the first time and Ron's house.

It looked as though it had once been a large stone pigpen, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it were held up by magic, which is probably was. Four or five chimneys were perched on top of the red roof. A lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance read, _The Burrow_. Around the front door lay a jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the yard.

"It's not much," said Ron.

"_It's wonderful_," said Harry, comparing it to Privet Drive.

"Do not let _anyone _tell you guys this isn't a magnificent house. Because it really is truly amazing," said Kalilina.

They got out of the car.

"Now, we'll go upstairs really quietly," said Fred, "and wait for Mum to call us for breakfast. Then, Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, 'Mum, look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be pleased to see Harry and Kalilina and no one need ever know we flew the car."

"Right," said Ron. "Come on you two. Kali - you can probably bunk with Ginny, considering you probably don't really want to sleep with us guys. Harry, you can follow me - I sleep at the - at the top -"

He cut short and turned this awful greenish color, his eyes fixed on the house. The other four wheeled around.

Mrs. Weasley was marching across the yard, scattering chickens, and for a short, plump, kind-faced woman, she really resembled a saber-toothed right now.

"_Ah_," said Fred.

"Oh, dear," said George.

"It was nice knowing you boys," said Kalilina, saluting to them and making them glare at her.

Mrs. Weasley came to a halt in front of them, her hands on her hips, staring from guilty face to the next. She was wearing a flowered apron with a wand sticking out the pocket.

"_So_," she said.

"Morning, Mum," said George, in what he obviously thought was a jaunty, winning voice.

"Have you any idea how worried I've been?" said Mrs. Weasley in a deadly whisper.

"Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to -"

All three of the Weasley boys were taller than their mother, but they cowered as her rage broke over them.

"_Beds empty! No note! Car gone - could have crashed - out of my mind with worry - did you care? - Never, as long as I've lived - you wait until your father gets home, we never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy -"_

"Perfect Percy," Fred muttered.

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!" yelled Mrs. Weasley, prodding a finger in Fred's chest. "You could have _died_, you could have been _seen_, and your father could have lost his _job _-"

It seemed to go on four hours. Mrs. Weasley had shouted herself hoarse before she turned on Kalilina and Harry, who backed away on instinct.

"I'm very pleased to see you two, Kalilina, Harry, dears," she said. "Come in and have some breakfast."

Kalilina didn't have to be told twice. She followed quickly behind Mrs. Weasley as soon as she heard the word 'breakfast'. Harry gave Ron a nervous glance, which then encouraged him, and Harry quickly followed after both Mrs. Weasley and Kalilina.

The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle, and Kalilina and Harry sat down on the edge of their seats. It was kind of weird being in a wizard home, considering, you know, they _were _a wizard and witch after all.

The clock on the wall opposite Harry and adjacent to Kalilina had only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like _Time to make tea, Time to feed chickens, _and _You're late_. Books were stacked three deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like _Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantments in Baking, _and _One Minute Feasts - its Magic! _And unless they were imaging things, they could've sworn the old radio next to the sink had just announced that coming up was "Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck."

Mrs. Weasley was clattering around, cooking breakfast a little haphazardly, throwing dirty looks at her son as she threw sausages into the frying pan. Every now and then she muttered things like "don't know _what _you were thinking of," and "_never _would have believed it."

"I don't blame _you_, dears," she reassured Kalilina and Harry, tipping eight or nine sausages onto their plates. "Arthur and I have been worried you two, too. Just last night we were saying we'd come get you ourselves if you hadn't responded to Ron's owl by Friday. But really" (she was now adding fried eggs to their plates), "flying an illegal car halfway across the country - anyone could have seen you -"

She flicked her wand casually at the dishes, which began to clean themselves, clinking gently in the background.

"It was _cloudy_, Mum!" said Fred.

"You keep your mouth closed while eating!" Mrs. Weasley snapped.

"They were starving them, Mum!" said George.

"And you!" said Mrs. Weasley, but it was with a softly softened expression that she started cutting Kalilina and Harry bread and buttering it for them.

At that moment there was a diversion in the form of a small, red-headed figure in a long nightdress, who appeared in the kitchen, gave a small squeal, and ran out again.

"Ginny," said Ron in an undertone. "My sister. She's been talking you two all summer. Especially you Harry."

A devilish grin appeared on Kalilina's face.

"Um, Mrs. Weasley," started Kalilina. "Do you mind if I bring my breakfast up to Ginny's room and talk to her?"

"Not at all, dear, go ahead, the room on the third landing," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling at her.

"Thank you," Kalilina said before disappearing with her plate and going to third landing, ignoring Harry and Ron's confused stares. She got to third floor landing and saw a door that had sign that read: _Ginny_. Kalilina smirked and knocked boldly on the door. The door was opened and there stood a small, read-headed girl with big brown eyes.

"H-hello," squeaked the girl.

"May I come in?" Kalilina asked. The girl thought for a moment, before nodding and opening the door wider, letting Kalilina walk in. Ginny's room was medium-sized. It held a lot of picture of boys from all type of bands, but it also held more boyish things.

"So, why did you come to see _me_?" asked Ginny. Kalilina wolfed three sausages down before answering.

"Well," she snickered, "I heard from a little birdie that _you _have been talking about little 'ol Harry and I."

Ginny gasped. "My brothers told you, didn't they? Oh, I must sound like a creep - I'm sorry -"

"Oh, no, no, it's fine," Kalilina waved it off. "I _also _heard that you were talking about Harry quite a lot."

Ginny's face went scarlet. "N-no. Well - he's my - my hero. S-so of course, I did."

"You fancy the _pants_ off my brother from another mother!" laughed Kalilina.

"Shhh! They could be listening!" Ginny said, urgently.

"No, your Mum is down there and glaring at them. I doubt she'd let them go upstairs," said Kalilina.

"But please don't tell anyone about my . . . crush," said Ginny. Kalilina pushed up her nose and closed one eye.

"Black of Honor," Kalilina said, and when Ginny looked at her weirdly, she elaborated, "Harry and I have been doing that since we were little. Except, you know, he uses Potter. So, yeah. I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks a bunch," breathed Ginny.

"No problema, Weaslette," Kalilina said, ruffling said girl's hair.

"Hey, can I have some, I can't really risk going down there and seeing Harry again," Ginny asked, gesturing to the half eaten plate on Kalilina's lap.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Kalilina said, handing over the plate. "Oh, and heads up. I'm going to be your roommate while I'm here for my stay at _Le Burrow_. Hope you're cool with that."

"Oh, no! I'm glad!" exclaimed Ginny. "I'm the only girl here, so it gets a bit lonely sometimes."

"Well, good," smiled Kalilina. "So, I'm going to go back downstairs. I'll see you later."

"Bye!" waved Ginny as Kalilina exited the red-head's room. Kalilina descended back downstairs and the kitchen was deserted except for Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, Kalilina, dear, they've all went to go de-gnome the garden, you can go out there if you'd like," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh no, I'm still kind of tired, so I'm afraid I'll be letting them do all the work," chuckled Kalilina. Mrs. Weasley chuckled, as well. It was just then, something caught Kalilina's eye. That something was _moving_. It was a book. A book with a moving picture on the front. Written across it in fancy gold letters was the words _Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests_. There was a big photograph on the front of a very good-looking wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. The wizard, who was most likely Gilderoy Lockhart, kept winking cheekily up at them all. Kalilina felt a look of disgust etch upon her face, absentmindedly. This man looked like he got on people's nerves. His winking got on Kalilina's nerves and if she was the photographer, she would've punched him in the face. It was quiet until the front door slammed.

"He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"

The Weasley boys and Harry hurried through the garden and back into the house.

Mr. Weasley was slumped in a kitchen chair, across from Kalilina, with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He was a thin man, going bald, but the little hair he had was a red as any of his children's. He was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn.

"What a night," he mumbled, groping for the teapot as they all sat down around him. "Nine raids! Nine! And 'ol Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me while my back was turned. . . ."

Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed.

"Find anything, Dad?" Fred asked eagerly.

"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr. Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness. . . . "

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" said George.

"Just Muggle-baiting," sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it. . . . Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking - they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them; they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face. . . . But the things our lot has taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe -"

"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"

Mrs. Weasley had suddenly spoken up, holding a long poker like a sword. Mr. Weasley's eyes jerked open. He stared guiltily at his wife.

"C-cars, Molly, dear?"

"Yes, Arthur, cars," said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes flashing. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was to take it apart to see how it worked, while _really _he was enchanting it to make it _fly_.

Mr. Weasley blinked.

"Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if - err - he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth. . . . There's a loophole in the law, you'll find. . . . As long as he wasn't _intending _to fly the car, the fact that the car _could _fly wouldn't -"

"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "Just so you can carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Kalilina and Harry arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!"

"Harry? Kalilina?" said Mr. Weasley, blankly. "Who?"

He looked around, saw Harry and Kalilina, and jumped.

"Good lord, is it Harry Potter and Kalilina Black? Very pleased to meet you, Ron's told us so much about -"

"_Your sons flew that car to their house and back last night!_" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Did it go all right? I - I mean," he faltered as sparks flew from Mrs. Weasley's eyes, "that - that was very wrong, boys - very wrong indeed. . . ."

"Well, that's enough excitement for one tonight, come on Harry, Kali," said Ron, standing up as Mrs. Weasley swelled like a bullfrog. "I can show you my room, Harry."

"Well, adios, I'll be talking with my roommate," said Kalilina, when they reached the third landing. A Pair of brown eyes was watching them. "Harry, I know you won't be in the same room as me, but _please _try not wetting yourself again."

There muffled giggles coming from the room where the door was ajar. Harry whacked Kalilina on the back of the head, but she only grinned cheekily. She kissed Harry and Ron's cheeks, before entering Ginny's room.

"I felt so creepy, I was just watching you guys," said Ginny.

"Don't worry, I think Harry may have noticed," sniggered Kalilina. She laughed when Ginny threw a pillow at her. She realized her trunk was at the end of a second bed in the room and so was Starshine's cat carrier.

"Is that your cat?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," responded Kalilina, "I'm not like most witches. I don't have an owl. But I might get one next year."

"Can I pet her?" Ginny asked eagerly. Kalilina nodded and unlocked the carrier. Kalilina sat Starshine next to Ginny, while she grasped her pajamas out of her trunk. She slipped off her clothes she was previously wearing and slipped into her pajamas. She wore shorts instead of long full pants - which she saved for winter. She wore one of Dudley's old shirts and raggedy old socks. She lay back on her bed.

It was quiet for some time, except for the occasional yawning or coughs or sneezes. Suddenly an idea popped into Kalilina's head. She smirked, sat up and leant on her elbow and faced Ginny.

"Hey Ginny. How would you like for me to help you get noticed by Harry?"

As much as she loved the idea of Harry noticing her, she couldn't help but be worried about the Cheshire smile Ginny could see even through the dark.

What in the name of Merlin did Ginny Weasley get herself in to?

* * *

**Oh, by golly! I lost motivation for this for a bit. So, yeah. But here is chapter three and I'm sorry for Kalilina not being too incredibly funny right now, it'll happen after they get to Hogwarts. Same with Kalilina breaking away with the plot a little.**

**Question:**

**Should Kalilina have a boyfriend from canon or an OC? Leave a review and answer!**

**Reviews are more wanted than Draco wants to kill Harry. (In his sleep. Slowly and most likely painfully.) c:**


	4. Diagon Alley Trip!

**There's one part in the story where Ron and Harry kiss, as a dare, though! Fair warning! xD Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter! c:**

* * *

Life at the Burrow was as different as possible from life on Privet Drive. The Dursleys liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys' house burst with the strange and unexpected. The ghoul in the attic howled and dropped pipes whenever felt things were too quiet for his liking, and small explosions from Fred and George's room were considered perfectly normal. But the most unusual thing was that everyone here seemed to like Kalilina and Harry.

Mrs. Weasley fussed over Kalilina's tangled hair and over Harry's ragged socks, and tried to force them to eat fourth helpings at every meal. Mr. Weasley liked them sitting next to him at dinner so that he could throw questions about them about Muggle life.

"_Fascinating!" _he would say as Harry talked through using a telephone or Kalilina was teaching him the function of a rubber duck. "_Ingenious_, really, how many ways Muggles have found of getting along without magic."

Hogwarts was heard from one sunny morning about a week after Kalilina and Harry arrived at the Burrow. Harry and Ron went down to breakfast to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ginny and Kalilina already sitting at the kitchen table. The moment she saw Harry, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter. Kalilina helped the girl pick it up from underneath the table, who emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun. Ginny seemed prone to knocking things down when Harry was around. Pretending he hadn't noticed it, Harry sat down and took the toast Mrs. Weasley offered him, missing the smirk Kalilina sent to Ginny.

"Letters from school," said Mr. Weasley, passing Harry and Ron identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, adressed in green ink. When recieving a confused stare from the two, Kalilina held up her letter. "Dumbledore already knows you two are here, Kalilina, Harry - doesn't miss a thing, that man. You've got them, too," he added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pajamas.

Everyone missed the dull pink tint on Kalilina's face upon seeing Fred.

For a few minutes there was silence as everyone read their letters. Harry, Ron's and Kalilina's told them to catch the Hogwarts Express on September first. There was also a list of the new books they'd need for the upcoming year.

SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 _by Miranda Goshawk

_Break with a Banshee _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Gadding with Ghouls _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Holidays with Hags _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Travels with Trolls _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Voyages with Vampires _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Wandering with Werewolves _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Year with the Yeti _by Gilderoy Lockhart

Fred, who had finished his own list, peered over Harry's shoulder.

"You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said. "The new Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher must be a fan - bet it's a witch."

At this point, Fred caught his mother's eye and quickly busied himself with the marmalade. To this Kalilina and Ginny snickered, making Fred look up and give them playful glares. Kalilina giggled and stuck out her tongue and Fred winked. Kalilina's face heated up and she quickly looked away. This did not go unnoticed, however, by Harry and George. Harry stared at Kalilina curiously as she stared everywhere but at Fred. And George raised an eyebrow when he caught his twin sneaking glances at the farther end of the table. It kind of got quiet until George said something.

"That lot won't come cheap," said George, with a quick look at his parents. "Lockhart's books are really exprensive. . . ."

"Well, we'll manage," said Mrs. Weasley, but she looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

"Oh, are you starting Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked Ginny.

She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming red hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish. The only two people to see this were Kalilina and Harry, though, as Percy came in. Harry took this time to talk to Kalilina.

_'So, what's up with you and Fred?' _he asked.

Kalilina raised an eyebrow. '_Just what are you talking about, Potter?'_

'_Oh, don't play stupid with me. I can read you like a book. You're crushing on Fred!'_

_'Am not! You have no proof!'_

_'So, the blushing from the two of you was nothing, then?'_

_'Shut your fucking mouth, Harry! You know damn well I wasn't blushing!'_

_"Uh-huh, and I love Malfoy.'_

_'Ha! I KNEW IT! You and Ron are always sneaking up to his room after dinner. It was only enough time until you came out . . . now if only Ron would confess. . . .'_

_'I. AM. NOT. GAY!'_

_'You sure about that, Potter?'_

_'Yes, as sure as I am that you lurve Malfoy.'_

_'Hold the phone, hold. the. fucking. phone. MALFOY?! I thought we went over this, Potter. It was hormones! He kissed me because of _hormones_. I have _no _feelings for him, what so ever._'

'_You don't love Malfoy because you lurve Fred!'_

"Harry James! I swear to Merlin, I don't like F -" Kalilina stopped short when she realized everyone in the room was staring at her. "Oi! I know I'm gorgeous, but if you really need to stare, take a picture, it'll last longer!"

The seemed to lighten the quietness and everyone laughed. Harry smirked evilly at Kalilina and made kissy faces. She contemplated on throwing a fork at his face. She was leaning towards doing it.

"Errol!" Ron took the limp owl from Percy and took the letter from underneath its wing. "_Finally _- he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were going to try to rescue you guys from the Dursleys."

"How many weeks ago was that, exactly?" said Harry.

"Exactly." said Ron.

Ron carried Errol to a perch just inside the back door and tried to stand him on it, but Errol flopped straight off again so Ron laid him on the draining board instead, muttering, "Pathetic." Then he ripped open Hermione's letter and read out loud:

"_Dear Ron, and Kalilina and Harry, if you two are there,_

_"I hope everything went all right and that Kalilina and Harry are okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get them out, Ron, because that would get them into to trouble, too. I've been really worried and if they are all right, will you please let me know, at once, but perhapse it would better if you used a different owl, because I think another delivery might finish your one off._

_"I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course _ - How _can _she be?" said Ron in horror. "We're on vacation! - '_and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley?_

_"Let me know what's happening as soon as you can. Love, Hermione."_

"Well, that fits nicely, we can all go and get all your things, then, too," said Mrs. Weasley, starting to clear the table. "What're you all up to today?"

The gang - Ron, Fred, George, Harry and Kalilina - were planning to go up the hill to a small paddock the Weasleys owned. It was surrounded by trees that blocked it from view of the village below, meaning they could practice Quidditch there, as long as they didn't fly too high, much to Kalilina's happiness.

They couldn't use real Quidditch balls, which would have been hard to explain if they had escaped into the village; instead they threw apples for one another to catch. Two people a time could ride Kalilina and Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand's, which were obviously the best brooms; Ron's old Shooting Star was often outstripped by passing butterflies.

Five minutes later they were marching up the hill, broomsticks over their shoulders. They asked Percy if he wanted to join them, but he had said he was busy. Percy was only seen at mealtimes; he stayed cooped up in his room most of the day.

"Wish I knew what he was up to," said Fred, frowning. "He's not himself. His exam results came back the day before you guys did; twelve OWLs and he hardly gloated at all."

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," George explained, noticing that Harry and Kalilina wouldn't know what OWLs were. "Bill got twelve, too. If we're not careful, we'll have another Head Boy in the family. I don't think I could stand the shame."

There were snickers as they started playing the small game of Quidditch.

"Ha! Without your Bludger bats, you two are nothing!" laughed Ron.

"Oh yeah, Ronniekins?" challenged Fred, throwing an apple. Ron groaned as one hit him in the gut. Kalilina and Harry howled with laughter. Fred and George raised an eyebrow.

"Think it's so funny, you two?" they asked. Fred threw one at Kalilina and George at Harry. Harry got hit in the face and nearly lost his balance and Kalilina got hit in the shoulder.

"ATTACK!" bellowed Kalilina and Harry at the same time, grabbing apples from the trees and throwing them randomly.

"ABORT MISSION! I REPEAT, ABORT. MISSION!" Ron yelled. The apple throwing deceased and everyone touched the ground.

"Well, _that _was a pretty fun Quidditch game," grinned Kalilina, out of breath.

"Hey, why don't we play another game?" suggested George, breathing hard.

"Like what? said Harry.

"Truth or Dare." The twins grinned.

"I'm game," said Kalilina. "What about you two?"

Harry and Ron said they were in, too.

"Okay, I'll go first," said George. "Ron! Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," said Ron, confidently.

"Okay . . . name one celebrity you'd snog," laughed George. Ron turned a light scarlet.

"Valmai Morgan from the Holyhead Harpies," he muttered.

"Nice choice, bro," snickered Fred. "Okay, choose someone else, Ron."

"Hm - Harry!" grinned Ron. "Truth or Dare?"

"I'm always up for a challenge, so dare," responded Harry. Ron looked a bit lost on what to say at first and so Kalilina whispered an idea in his ear. Ron grinned evilly.

"Kiss the person on your rights cheek and say you love them and you think their sexy," cackled Ron. Harry was now as red as the Weasley's hair. The person on Harry's right was none other than Fred. Fred tapped his cheek and batted his eyelashes like a girl. The others laughed as Harry looked repulsed. He was hestitant but eventually kissed Fred's cheek and winked.

"You're sexy," Harry said. Kalilina laughed so hard that she started wheezing. Fred swooned and fell on to his back. Ron and George were leaning on to each other.

"Okay, okay. Kali, my sister from another mister," smirked Harry. "Your turn. Truth or Dare?"

"Truths are so boring. Dare for me!" said Kalilina. Harry got an evil glint in his eyes and Kalilina instantly regretted choosing dare.

"I _dare _you to kiss someone of the opposite gender," said Harry. "And _I _choose whom you kiss."

Kalilina paled considerably when Harry said, "That person is _Fred_."

Both Fred and Kalilina turned a shade of pink, not looking at each other. George and Harry cackled and Ron just sat, confused, on why Fred and Kalilina were blushing.

"Oh, and did I mention, the kiss lasts for _two minutes_," Harry added. Kalilina gave Harry a death stare and gave him a great whack across the head.

"Oh, you're going to get it, Potter," she grumbled before crawling over to Fred. They stared at each other for a moment, before Fred pulled her in unexpectantly.

Kalilina had only been kissed _once _- by Malfoy - and that had sent her mind whirling and every thing, but with Fred, her mind literally went 'BOOM!' She started crushing on Fred last year, but she passed it off as adoration for his pranks. Plus, she was a little side-tracked with Malfoy. Her crush on Fred doubled when she got to the Burrow. She always was blushing when she saw him, or they were teasing each other, much to her dismay. How could a girl _not _fall for him? He was charming, _hot_, and funny. Not to mention he had a serious and compassionate side sometimes. Oh, Kalilina knew now that she was completely infatuated with the Weasley twin.

When they broke away, they stared at each other for a little while. Kalilina's head was still spinning and her heart was beating like a thousand rabbits running. She could only imagine what Fred was feeling.

"Oi, lovebirds! We've still got a game to play!" George interuppted their moment. They jumped away from each other and Kalilina crawled back over beside Harry.

"Well, that was _interesting_," said Fred.

"You don't say," laughed Kalilina. Fred winked at her and she only smirked back.

"Okay, Kali, your turn," said Ron. Kalilina's smirk turned into a sadistic smile.

"Ron, my food buddy," she said sweetly, "Truth or Dare?"

"Uh, I'll go with Dare," he said.

"I _dare_ you to kiss someone of the opposite gender," she winked, "And the person I choose is . . . ding! Harry James Potter! You're our lucky winner!"

Fred and George howled with laughter as Ron and Harry looked at Kalilina with horror.

"Kali, you _can't_ be serious," murmured Ron.

"_Dead_ serious, Ronald," smirked Kalilina. "Now, hurry up. Your audience is getting bored."

Both Harry and Ron looked disgusted, but none the less, kissed each other. It was a peck and they looked green.

"Nu uh, for a _minute_," said Kalilina. They groaned and leaned foraward yet again. By now, Fred, George and Kalilina were laughing so hard, tears were running down their face. When the minute was over, Harry and Ron shot back to their respective places.

"We _never _speak of this again," said Harry, shivering. The twins promised and Kalilina gave the Black Honor.

"You see, this is why I love you Weasleys," grinned Kalilina. "You guys know how to make shit exciting."

* * *

Mrs. Weasley woke them all early the following morning. Kalilina took a bit longer; she had gotten into her sleeping routine yet again and wasn't used to waking up at any early time. After a quick half a dozen bacon sandwhiches each, they pulled on their coats and Mrs. Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece and peered inside.

"We're running low, Arthur," she sighed. "We'll have to buy some more today. . . . Ah well, guests first! After you two, Harry, Kalilina!"

And she offered them the flowerpot.

"And just _what _are we supposed to do?" Kalilina questioned, raising an eyebrow at all the redheads, whom were staring at them.

"They've never traveled by Floo powder," said Ron suddenly. "Sorry, you two, I forgot."

"Never?" said Mr. Weasley. "But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"

"We went on the Underground -"

"Really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Were there _escapators_? How exactly -"

"Not _now_, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley, "Floo powder's a lot quicker, dears, but goodness me, if you've never used it before -"

"Oh, they'll be alright, Mum," said Fred. "Guys, watch us first."

He took a pinch of glittering powder out of the flowerpot, stepped up to the fire, and threw the powder into the flames.

With a roar, the fire turned emerald-green and rose higher than Fred, who stepped it, shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and vanished with a wave.

"You must speak clearly, dear," Mrs. Weasley told Kalilina and Harry as George dipped his hand into the flowerpot. "And be sure to get out at the right grate. . . ."

"Grate?" said Kalilina, unsure as the fire roared and whipped George out of sight, too.

"Well, there is a lot of wizard fires to choose from, you know, but as long as you've spoken clearly -"

"They'll be fine, Molly, don't worry," said Mr. Weasley, helping himself to Floo powder, too.

"But, dear, if they get lost, how would we ever explain to Harry's aunt and uncle?"

"Oh, no need to worry," Harry reassured her. "Dudley would laugh himself silly if we got lost up a chimney, don't worry -"

"Well . . . all right . . . you two go after Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, when you get into the fire, say where you're going -"

"And keep your elbows tucked in," Ron advised.

"And your eyes shut," said Mrs. Weasley. "The soot -"

"Don't fidget," said Ron. "Or else you might fall out of the wrong fireplace -"

"But don't panic and get out too early; wait until you see Fred and George."

It was hard to take in all that information, but Kalilina and Harry figured they'd manage. Harry took a handful of Floo powder and together, he and Kalilina walked in to the fireplace. They took a deep breath and instantly they started choking on hot ash.

"D- Dia-gon Alley," Harry managed to cough, seeing as Kalilina felt as though she was choking on a lung. One moment, the Burrow kitchen was there and all of a sudden, there was a whirlwind of all sorts of different grates. Ash whipped at their faces and bodies and they couldn't do anything to stop it. They both wished everything would stop, they were starting to get motion sick and -

They fell, face foward, on to cold stone and Harry sighed when he felt the bridge of his glasses break.

"Bloody hell, remind me _never _to use Floo powder again," Kalilina mumbled, pulling herself up. She helped Harry up, as well.

"_Definitely _not the best way to travel," Harry grumbled, situating his now broken glasses on to his face. The two children looked around, wondering were they were. It definitely wasn't a place they'd ever been when they went to Diagon Alley. They made to leave but then two people entering made them rethink their decision - one of the pair whom they did not really take a pleasure in seeing at this very moment; Draco Malfoy.

Kalilina and Harry panicked and darted inside a large, dark, black cabinet in the corner of the dingy shop. They managed to squeeze in and shut the door and leave some room to see out of, when a bell ringed through the shop, signaling there were customers.

The man behind Draco, no doubt, had to Draco's father. He had the same pale, pointed face and same cold, gray eyes. Mr. Malfoy crossed the shop, with elegant grace, looking lazily at the items on display, and rang a bell on the counter before calling over his shoulder and telling his son, "Touch nothing, Draco."

Malfoy, who was eyeing something, said, "I _thought _you were going to buy me a present."

"I _said _I was would buy a racing broom," said his father, drumming his fingers on the counter.

"There's no point," said Malfoy, looking sulky and bad-tempered. "Harry Potter and Kalilina Black got Nimbus Two Thousand's laster year. All because they have stupid _scars _on their forehead. Just because they survived a _stupid _curse. . . ."

Malfoy bent down to check a shelf full of skulls.

". . . everyone likes them. Oh so _famous_. They aren't a big deal, in my opinion. They survived _one _curse, big deal. If _I _did that, no one would be kissing the ground _I _walked on. . . ."

"Funny, Draco," said Mr. Malfoy, "I seem to remember you owling to your mother about Black. You seemed to have _fancy _her. . . ."

"I did not!" Malfoy turned to his father. "I'd never fancy someone like _her_. . . ."

"'Oh, Mother, she has the most _exotic _eyes I've ever seen. Not to mention her laugh. . . .'" smirked Mr. Malfoy. Kalilina raised an eyebrow and Harry was laughing silently. Kalilina elbowed Harry in the stomach which made him instantly go quiet.

Malfoy glared at his father before turning around to examine something else.

"It was a simple little crush. I do not have any _feelings _for her anymore," Malfoy said quietly. Mr. Malfoy could not respond to his son, however, when a stooping man appeared behind the counter, smoothing back his greasy hair from his face.

'_Damn, he could rival with Snape_,' thought Kalilina. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Ah, Mr Borgin," said Mr. Malfoy.

"Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again," said Mr. Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair. "Delighted - and young Master Malfoy, too - charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced -"

"I'm not buying today, but selling," said Mr. Malfoy.

"Selling?" The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin's face.

"You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids," said Mr. Malfoy, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it for Mr. Borgin to read. "I have a few - ah - items at home that might embarass me, if the Ministry were to call. . . ."

Mr. Borgin fixed a pair of pince-nez to his nose and looked down the list.

"The Minsitry wouldn't presume to trouble you, sir, surely?"

Mr. Malfoy's lip curled.

"I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows even more meddlesome. There are rumors about a new Muggle Protection Act - no doubt that flea-bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it -"

Kalilina and Harry death glared at Mr. Malfoy, even if he couldn't see it.

"- and as you see, certain of these poisons might make it _appear_ -"

"I understand, sir, of course," said Mr. Borgin. "Let me see . . ."

"Can I have _that_?" interuppted Draco, pointing at a withered hand on its cushion.

"Ah, the Hand of Glory!" said Mr. Borgin, abandoning Mr. Malfoy's list and scurrying over to Draco. "Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friends of thieves and plunderers!" Your son has fine tast, sir."

"I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin," said Mr. Malfoy, coldly, and Mr. Borgin said quickly, "No offense, sir, no offense meant -"

"Though if his grades don't pick up," said Mr. Malfoy, keeping up his cold tone, "that may indeed be all he's fit for -"

"It's not _my _fault," retorted Draco. "All those professor have favorites, you know, Hermione Granger -"

"I would think that you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beating you in every exam," snapped Mr. Malfoy.

Kalilina and Harry gave each other a quiet high-five, and were pleased to see Draco both abashed and angry. They'd have to remember to tell Ron and Hermione. Especially Ron, he'd have a laughing fit.

"It's the same all over," said Mr. Borgin, in his oily voice, that was starting to get creepy. "Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere -"

"Not with me," said Mr. Malfoy, his long nostrils flaring.

"No, sir, nor with me, sir," said Mr. Borgin, with a deep bow.

'_Dear god, the Malfoys aren't royalty. Stop bowing!' _Kalilina chastised the man.

'_Apparently, Mr. Borgin is afraid about his business._' snickered Harry.

"In that case, perhaps we can return to my list," Mr. Malfoy said shortly. "I am in something of a hurry, Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today -"

They started to negotiate and what not. Nerves were running high in the cabinet as Draco kept coming closer to the cabinet.

'_Malfoy, no. Stop. Yes . . . yes. Read - No! Over _there_, Malfoy! Malfoy -' _Kalilina was frantically yelling at Draco in her mind. She didn't want to blow her cover by sneaking into his mind and telling him.

'_You aren't _helping_, Kali!_' huffed Harry.

'_Shut up, Potter! I'm panicking, okay!_'

Kalilina's obvious efforts to keep Draco away hadn't worked. After he had read a sign on a necklace made of opals, he turned and faced the cabinet. He made to open it -

"Done," said Mr. Malfoy at the counter. "Come, Draco -"

They both let out a breath they had not realized they had held as Draco turned to his father.

"Good day to you, Mr. Borgin. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods."

The moment the door had closed, Mr. Borgin dropped his act.

"Good day yourself, _Mister _Malfoy, and if the stories are true, you haven't sold me half of what's hidden in your _manor_. . . ."

Muttering darkly, Mr. Borgin disappeared into a back room and made no signs of coming back out. They exited the cabinet.

"I felt like I was in sort of spy movie or something," said Harry.

"I know!" agreed Kalilina. She had to take it a step further by barrel rolling across the shop and knocking into some glass, crashing some things.

"You saw nothing!" she whispered-yelled, bolting out the shop. Harry ran a hand down his face and followed her out.

"You know, you're a horrible spy," said Harry, once they reached outside the store.

"What are you talking about, I was graceful as a mother fucking swan," she waved herself in a fluid motion, "Then there was you," she made a point to fall the ground. "God, get your shit together. That's why people like you get their ass killed in horror movies. Falling over and shit. . . ."

"Girl, d'you know who _I _am," said Harry, in a really high-pitched voice. "I am the _Queen _of Gracefulness! I be jumping over 10 feet bushes!"

The pair started laughing.

"We're so weird," sighed Harry.

"You're telling me," giggled Kalilina.

Just then did they decide to look at their surroundings. It really wasn't much to look at, though. All the stores, like the one they had just left, _Borgin and Burkes_, seemed completely devoted to Dark Arts.

"Why do I feel like I'm going to get mugged around here?" muttered Harry as they started walking, trying to find a way out of the creepy place.

"Probably because you're perfect mugging material," stated Kalilina, simply. "Dorky looking, glasses, skinny as hell . . . I'm surprised I haven't mugged you after all these years of knowing each other. . . ."

Harry glared at her. "You know, I'm wondering if you're with me or against me -" Harry was cut off by Kalilina's shriek. He spun around and saw an old witch, standing over them. Harry let out a pretty girlish shriek and stumbled backwards.

'_If she attacks, I'm leaving your ass!_' Kalilina said.

_'I'll remember that, when you're getting attacked by rats.' _said Harry. She stared at him in horror, and the horror stayed when she looked to the old woman.

"Not lost are you, my dears?" the woman leered. She 'grinned' showing mossy teeth.

"Nope, in fact, we were just taking a stroll, right, Harry?" squeaked Kalilina.

"Yep, yep, strolling right along," confirmed Harry.

"Then you wouldn't mind coming back to my shop, would you?" the woman stepped closer.

"Ohhh, no, we _couldn't _impose on you like that," said Harry.

"Yeah, besides, we've got to go . . . catch some . . . um, ducks!" said Kalilina. "So, we _really _couldn't."

"At leats try one -" the woman held out a tray full of, what looked like, human fingernails. Kalilina gagged at the sight.

"HARRY! KALILINA! What d'yeh think yer doin' down there?"

"HALLELUJAH!" Kalilina and Harry bellowed, hugging each other. "SAVED BY THE GAMEKEEPER!"

Hagrid, the gamekeeper, came striding toward them, beetle-black eyes flashing over his great bristling beard.

"Hagrid!" Harry sighed in relief. "We got lost - and Floo powder - and here -"

Hagrid seized Harry by the scruff of his neck and Kalilina by her waist and pulled them away from the witch, Kalilina kicking the tray out of her hands on the way. She cackled as the witch's shrieks were heard even when they reached the bright sunlight. Gringotts was in the distance.

"Is it just me or does it feel like forever since I've seen the light of day?" said Kalilina as Hagrid let her down.

"It's probably 20 to 30 minutes since we got here, Kali, calm down," scoffed Harry.

"That's a big deal, Harry, 20 minutes is a _long _time for me," said Kalilina. "Speaking of, I'm starving!"

"I see you two are still your normal selves," said Hagrid. "Yer a mess!"

He brushed soot off the both of them and they held each other, trying not to be crushed by Hagrid's massive hand hitting them. "Skulkin' around Knockturn Alley, I dunno - dodgy place, you two - don' want no one ter see yeh down there -"

"Gee, I wonder _why_, " said Harry saracstically. "As we told you, we got lost - what were _you _doing down there, anyway?"

"_I _was lookin' fer a Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent," growled Hagrid. "They're ruinin' the school cabbages. Yer not on yer own?"

"We're staying with the Weasleys but Harry over here," Kalilina whacked the boy on the head, "said something wrong and we got stuck in Dark Arts Alley. Have you seen them around?"

"Nah, but I'll help you find them," said Hagrid.

All three of them set off down the street.

"How come yeh never wrote back ter me?" said Hagrid as Kalilina and Harry had to jog to keep up with Hagrid's gigantic strides. Kalilina and Harry took turns telling Hagrid about Dobby and the Dursleys.

"Lousy Muggles," growled Hagrid. "If I'd've known -"

"Harry! Kalilina! Over here!"

That voice belonged to none other than the bushy-haired bookworm, Hermione Granger. She ran down to meet them and enevloped Kalilina and Harry into tight embraces.

"Mama missed Granger," Kalilina grinned. Hermione giggled.

"And Granger missed Mama," she replied.

"What happened to your glasses, Harry? Hello, Hagrid - Oh, it's _wonderful _to see you three again - Are you coming to Gringotts, you two?"

"As soon as we find where the Weasleys are," said Harry.

"Yeh won't have to wait fer long," Hagrid said with a grin.

Harry, Kalilina and Hermione looked around: Sprinting up the crowded street were Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and Mr. Weasley.

"Harry, Kalilina," Mr. Weasley panted. "We _hoped _you'd only gone one grate too far. . . ." He mopped his glistening bald patch. "Molly's frantic - she's coming now -"

"Where did you come out?" Ron asked.

"Dark Arts Alley," answered Kalilina. "Or what you people call it - Knockturn Alley."

"And you _survived_?" gasped Fred and George.

"Nope, we're totally dead, our spirits are visting you," said Harry. "Really? What do you think?"

"Yeah, we screamed for help, but the knife had already pierced through our hearts," Kalilina sighed dramatically. "We have met our early fate." Kalilina pretended to faint and fell into Hermione's unsuspecting arms.

Fred stared at her with a look of horror and George had to push him to knock him out of his trance.

Mrs. Weasley came galloping into view, her handbag swinging wildly in one hand, Ginny barely just clinging onto the other.

"Oh, Harry, Kalilina - oh, my dears - you could have been anywhere -"

Gasping for breath, she pulled a large clothes brush out of her bag and began sweeping off soot Hagrid hadn't managed to beat away. Mr. Weasley took Harry's glasses, gave them a tap of his wand, and handed them back, good as new.

"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by Mrs. Weasley ("Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found them, Hagrid!") "See yer at Hogwarts!" And he strode away, head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the packed street.

"Guess who was in Dark Arts Alley, in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione as they climbed the Gringotts steps. "Malfoy and his father."

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" said Mr. Weasley sharply from behind them.

"No, he was selling -"

"So he's worried," said Mr. Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something. . . ."

"You be careful, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley sharply as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the door. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew -"

"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr. Weasley indignantly, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter, waiting for Hermione to introduce them.

"But you're _Muggles_!" said Mr. Weasley delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten pound notes in Mr. Granger's hand.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Mr. Weasley's behavior. All Ron, Harry and Kalilina could do was smile knowingly.

"Meet you back here," Ron said to Hermione as the Weasleys, Kalilina and Harry were led off to their underground vaults.

They went to Weasley vault first and it was a pretty tragic. There was very small pile of silver ickles inside, and just one gold Galleon. Mrs. Weasley put the lot of it into her pouch. Harry blocked them from seeing the gold in his vault and Kalilina told them to stay inside the cart so they wouldn;t see the dragon nor the copious amounts of gold in her vault. Truthfully, the farther down you go, is where the rich families are. And if you have a dragon, like Kalilina, means you've hit the jackpot.

Back outside, everyone went their seperate ways. Percy muttered something about getting new quills, Fred and George spotted Lee Jordan, whom winked at Fred and sang a love song. Fred and George had to drag him away. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were going to a secondhand robe shop. Mr. Weasley was insisting on taking the Granger off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in any hour to buy your schoolbooks," said Mrs. Weasley, setting off with Ginny. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she shouted at the twins' retreating backs and they simply waved her off.

Harry, Kalilina, Ron and Hermione strolled off along the winding, cobbled street. Harry, feeling generous, bought all four of them large strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, which they ate happily as they walked along the crowded streets. Kalilina took this time to tell Ron and Hermione that Malfoy was being beat by Hermione. Hermione giggled and, as expected, Ron had a ball. Kalilina then dragged Ron and Hermione secretly away so she could get Harry's birthday present. She didn't forget!

She got herself and him shirts that said 'He/She is my brother from another mother/ sister from another mister and stuff for his broom. She planned on giving him a real special birthday present later when they get back to the Burrow. It was a scrapbook since they were little. Petunia, unknown to Vernon, took pictures of the two whenver he wasn't around.

"_There _you guys are!" gasped Harry, catching up to the trio. "Where'd you disappear off to?"

Kalilina, who was previously turned away from Harry, spun around and puffed out her chest. Harry laughed when he read it. She gave him his shirt. And she also gave him his broom stuff.

"It's so funny how this is accurate," laughed Harry.

"Exactly why I got it, dear brother of mine," grinned Kalilina. "This is a late birthday present. I told you when we got to Diagon Alley, I'd get you something! Oh, and this isn't the only thing you'll be getting."

Harry shook his head and tackled Kalilina into a hug. "You didn't have to get me anything, Kali."

"Oh, but I did, Harry," said Kalilina. Harry released her and ruffled her hair. Kalilina blew him a rasberry and shoved his hand away.

"Here, Harry. Since my present didn't reach you over the summer," grinned Hermione. Harry hugged Hermione as well. Ron felt a bit out of place, since he had already given Harry his present when he'd first gotten here.

"Alright, alright, enough," said Ron. "I want to go see stuff at Quality Quidditch Supplies!"

Ron made to go to the shop, but Hermione grabbed the back of his collar.

"I don't think so, Ronald. We need to go get ink and parchment. Don't look at me like that - march!" Hermione demanded. Both Harry and Ron groaned and reluctantly went into the shop. Kalilina and Hermione smirked and followed after the boys. In Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, Fred, George and Lee were there.

"'Ello, Kalilina," greeted Lee, grinning wildly. Kalilina raised an eyebrow.

"Are you on drugs or something? It's physically impossible to smile that wide," said Kalilina, backing away slightly. Lee continued to grin creepily as he slung an arm over Kalilina's shoulder, dragging her away from the group.

"Sooo, I hear you and my good mate, Fred shared a little lip action," he started. Kalilina sighed and face-palmed.

"He told you? Or was it George? It was a dare . . . It didn't mean anything. . . ." Kalilina said, sounding unsure. Lee noticed this and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure? You don't sound too sure," he said.

"I'm - I don't even know," she sighed.

"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret," Lee dropped his voice down to a whisper, "I'm pretty sure he reciprocates the feelings."

Before Kalilina could even say anything else, Lee had winked and walked back over the group. Kalilina's head was reeling. Could Fred _really _like her? He was already fourteen for bloody sake! What would he want with a _twelve _year old? He'd _obviously _likes girls his _own _age. But a part of Kalilina hoped and wished he had some interest in her.

Before she could ponder anymore, it was time to go to Flourish and Blotts.

* * *

From taking a step in that shop, things weren't going to end well. The whole bookstore was in frenzy and seemed to be crowded around the back. Kalilina, Harry, Ron and Hermione pushed their way through and got to the front with Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. Around them seemed to be witches the same age as Mrs. Weasley, older and younger, as well.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded breathless and she kept fixing her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute. . . ."

Hermione started trying to tame her wild hair, the same as Mrs. Weasley was doing, as Harry, Ron and Kalilina all had a look of disgust on their face.

Once Gilderoy Lockhart came into view, the crowd of witches went into a frenzy. Witches started pushing to the front, trying to get closer to the man. Lockhart was wearing forget-me-not blue robes that, creepily, exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.

A man was dancing around, knocking people about, trying to capture pictures.

"Out of the way, loafs!" he snarled, pushing through the quartet, to get a better shot. "This is for the _Daily Prophet _-"

"And no one cares," glared Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it.

Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. His eyes glanced over Ron and landed on Harry and Kalilina. "It _can't _be Harry Potter and Kalilina Black?"

Kalilina and Harry groaned as Lockhart seized them and tugged them to the front.

"Nice big smile, you two," said Lockhart, through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, you two and I are worth the front page."

Lockhart made no sign of releasing the pair, much to their dismay. In fact, he clasped them _tighter_, if that was even possible.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to a little announcement I've sat on for some time!

"When young Harry and Kalilina here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, they only wanted to buy my autobiography - which I shall be happy to give them, free of charge -" The crowd applauded loudly. "They had _no idea_," Lockhart continued, shaking Harry and Kalilina, "that they weould shortly getting much more than my book, _Magical Me_. They and their schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the spot of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheered and clapped and Kalilina and Harry felt themselves go pale as the news hit them. They staggered under the weight of Gilderoy Lockhart's entire works. Kalilina ditched them as soon as she got them. She gave them to a random passerby who squealed. Harry made his way to Ginny, who was standing at the edge of the room with her new cauldron.

"You have these," Harry mumbled to her, tipping the books into the cauldron. "I'll buy my own-"

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a voice that was all to familiar to Harry. Just as he turned, he knew he was right. There was Draco Malfoy, with his usual sneer on his face. Kalilina came up.

"Hey, Harry we were -" She noticed the blond-haired devil. "Oh god, I had hoped that you had died over the summer."

"Quite the contrary, Black," smirked Malfoy. "But I'm surprised that you're alive, seeing as you two were treated so _poorly _by those Muggles. Have fun?"

Kalilina lunged at the boy, who took a step back, luckily, Harry grabbed Kalilina. "Watch your fucking mouth, Malfoy! You know nothing about what fucking happens, so shut it!"

Malfoy actually looked a bit scared. He hadn't seen Kalilina this mad since last year on the first train ride. But he replaced his shocked face with a sneer.

"The _famous _children-who-lived," scoffed Malfoy, "can't even go to a _bookshop _without making the front page."

"Leave them alone, they didn't want all of that!" said Ginny. This was the first she had spoken in front of Harry. She was glaring hard at Malfoy.

"This is grand! Potter, I didn't know you had a girlfriend, let alone a _Weasel!_" drawled Malfoy. Ginny went scarlet as Ron and Hermione fought their way through the crowd, both clutching Lockhart's books.

"Oh, I thought it was someone important," said Ron, looking at Malfoy as if he were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry and Kali, here?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Malfoy. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ron went as red as Ginny, possibly even redder. He dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket. Kalilina made no movement whatsoever to try to stop Ron, in fact, she pouted when Ron was pulled back. She'd really fancy Malfoy's face being smashed in. By herself or someone she didn't care. She just wanted it to happen.

"Ron!" said mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It too crowded in here, let's go outside."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't - Arthur Weasley."

It was Mr. Malfoy's cold voice that spoke. He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering just like his son.

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Minsitry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids . . . I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He reached into Ginny's cauldron ("Stay away from her, you bastard," Kalilina muttered, pulling Ginny close to her. ) and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very used copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_.

"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy sneered, examining the book. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.

"Clearly," said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes landing on the apprehensive Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "The company you keep, Weasley . . . and I thought your family could sink no lower -"

And all hell broke loose. Mr. Weasley lunged at Mr. Malfoy and the pair knocked into a large bookcase, knocking it over. Kalilina, Fred, George and Ron were cheering for Mr. Weasley while Mrs. Weasley shouted "No, Arthur, no!"

The assitant tried to break everything up; it wasn't succesful. It was too loud to even hear the assitant.

"Break it up, there, gents, break it up -"

Hagrid was standing tall over everyone as he pulled the two apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an _Encyclopedia of Toadstools_. He was still holding Ginny's Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can afford to give you _" Pulling himseld out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.

The Weasleys, Harry, Kalilina, Hermione and Hagrid left the shop.

"That was epic!" cheered Kalilina. "Really, Mr. Weasley, that was amazing!"

"Yeah, Dad -" Fred stopped short when his saw his mother's warning glare. "Alright, alright, no need to give me the 'eye'"

The group split at the Leaky Cauldron, the Grangers left for the Muggle street on the other side; The Weasleys, Harry and Kalilina, along with their shopping, would be Flooing back to the Burrow.

"Why must we use Floo powder," groaned Harry.

"Don't worry, Harry," reassured George. "You'll get used to it."

Kalilina snorted. "_Highly _unlikely."

* * *

**First; sorry, _so _sorry about the late update. I kind of got lazy and when I tried to write more, I had stuff to do. Don't maul me! I'm sorry!**

**Second; About the Kalilina/Fred thing. I was supposed to go over this in Kali's first year, but, I didn't because I was following the book. But Kalilina's had a slight crush on Fred since last year, but I've never mentioned it because 1) As I said before, I was following the book, so I completely forgot to mention it. 2) I was focusing on the main ship at hand: Kali/Draco. So sorry for kind of imposing that romance thingy on you.**

**Third; This is a looooong chapter. Whew! But they'll only get longer, so that's why I'm dragging Kali away from the actual book a bit. Besides, she has to. She's going to be crushing and romancing with Fred, she doesn't want to spend all her time with Harry or saving the school again or whatever.**

**Thank you to Kibalover1998 for giving me that idea/ bringing that plot back into my head!**

**So, I hope you enjoyed chapter 4 and I'll got chapter 5 up as _soon _as possible!**

**- Maraudin'likeaboss. xx**

**P. S. Who liked the Truth or Dare part? I admit it was kind of sucky, but I suck at Truth and/or dares anyway. Sooo -shrug-**

**Reviews are more wanted than Voldemort wants power!**


	5. I'm so glad we shared this time together

I'm so sorry, guys. But I'm going to be on an extra-long break for a while. I know you all were probably thinking it's a chapter and are probably planning my murder at this moment and I'm sorry. There are a lot of things I need to focus on right now and fanfiction is not my top priority right now.

Please note that this story isn't going to end for good, but it is going on a hiatus. It hurts me to do this, seeing as so many people love this story. But as I said before, I have other things to focus on in my life.

So for now, au reviore my dear and loyal readers, I'll return soon.

- Love Maraudin'likeaboss and Kalilina & Co. xx


End file.
